Millelacs storm tonite!

Lots of boats pontoons docks and lifts damaged around Big Point and elsewhere.

Getting some wind, rain & thunder right now in Princeton.

My mom and husband hanging in the bathroom on east rush right now.

Apparently he ran out into storm to make sure the new 1775 impact was under the canopy, all is good

Sounding like the east side got hammered. If your boat was on a lift it likely isn’t now. Some boat are floating free as well. Saw some pictures of a storm surge that looked to be 2 or 3 feet high.

munchy wrote:

Sounding like the east side got hammered. If your boat was on a lift it likely isn’t now. Some boat are floating free as well. Saw some pictures of a storm surge that looked to be 2 or 3 feet high.

Kevin Mcquoid said it was the highest storm surge he’s seen in 26 yrs.. Pics on BookFace look terrible. Shiny new boat sitting up on fire pits on shore, dock pieces scatter about in yards, lots of trees down..

I got a picture of the roof ripped off my shed at the Wharf

Speaks for itself

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North branch last night got a little wild there for a while.
No trees down but lots of branches everywhere

Those waves out on the big lake are no joke. What’s interesting in that photo is why the boats ended up on shore and the docks are still in their place. Usually the docks end up getting ripped apart too.

Jeff, are you still up at the lake? Any trees down at my place?

Was watching the storm blow through last night on the lake cams. Wicked.

Hunter Winfields cam is stuck at about the peak of the storm in Isle bay.

http://www.mnlakecams.com/hwr/hwr.html?ref=nf

Lots of damage photos coming in on the Facebook feed. What a mess!

-J.

Wow!

What was also strange about this storm was it was running straight out of the west and as soon as it hit the lake, it turned south.

-J.

Damn!

I went to bed in Red Wing with a few raindrops and lightning to the NW.

Didn’t have a clue it was that bad up that way.

Isle bay. Boat sitting on firepit

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gimruis wrote:

Those waves out on the big lake are no joke. What’s interesting in that photo is why the boats ended up on shore and the docks are still in their place. Usually the docks end up getting ripped apart too.

The docks pictured look to have been lucky. Most of the other pics I’ve seen on the damage show docks ripped apart! Some on shore, some underwater..

Jon Jordan wrote:

What was also strange about this storm was it was running straight out of the west and as soon as it hit the lake, it turned south.
-J.

I agree that was very weird! My Grandparents live on the east side (although not directly on the lake) and she called to let me know the wind was wicked and coming for us in Hinckley. My FW and I sat outside for almost an hour. Lots of lightning and the wind did pick up a little bit, but that storm took a hard right and went south. Watching the radar loop it was just crazy how it went from going directly east to straight south! Wowza!

Im not up at the lake,theres no power yet but its a mess!
Wayne said it was very scary like never before in 30 years.
As far as structure damage you and I are ok.

bobberstop4054 wrote:

Im not up at the lake,theres no power yet but its a mess!
Wayne said it was very scary like never before in 30 years.
As far as structure damage you and I are ok.

Thanks for the update!

-J.

Weird radar loop I saw it heading east all day then all of sudden it dropped south.

I feel really bad for those who have damage.

I selfishly hope we are ok up near Malmo. I just got done repairing damage on my screen porch from the May 8th snowstorm.

Cell phone video of storm surge.

– J.

Dang, that’s crazy! I remember being at a friend’s cabin on the East Side of Mille Lacs in the late 90s when a big storm rolled through. There was a huge wall cloud and tornado warnings and stuff, we didn’t have a basement to hide in so we were just gathered together in the lower level hoping for the best.

The aftermath was pretty brutal, every dock on that shoreline was just trashed, our friend’s boat ended up on shore with major damage.

I don’t know if that was a memorable storm or just business as usual up there. I think putting a dock out on a lake that big comes with it’s risks, but you hate to see it happen all the same. I don’t know what I’d do if I went up to my cabin and found my boat sitting in my backyard…

If I had a place up there I’d just build a gigantic harbor to keep my boat’s safe, then I’d cover it in grass and fertilize heavily, I think that’s the best way to go.

Gonna watch those bobbers travel right past a boat now anchored up with that water piled up next 48hrs….

Jon Jordan wrote:

Cell phone video of storm surge.

<div class=”ido-oembed-wrap”><iframe title=”Storms on Lake Mille Lacs” width=”850″ height=”638″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/jBLpGW7IB-Y?feature=oembed&#8221; frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen=””></iframe></div>
– J.

Pretty decent walleye chop.

philtickelson wrote:

I don’t know if that was a memorable storm or just business as usual up there.

I think one of the big issues with this one is the lake level. We are up at least a foot over normal summer levels. Many docks were not set up high enough to allow for the tide or “slosh” when she blew in. Lucky it did not last too long.

I’m hearing no injuries. Just broken stuff. Good news! Had that hit on a Fri/Sat evening at 7:15, there would have been a lot of people out there fishing. Me included….

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

Had that hit on a Fri/Sat evening at 7:15, there would have been a lot of people out there fishing. Me included….

Me too.

But that is probably the number one thing I use my smartphone for. Radar.

Tonight could be worse.

Jon Jordan wrote:

I think one of the big issues with this one is the lake level. We are up at least a foot over normal summer levels. Many docks were not set up high enough to allow for the tide or “slosh” when she blew in. Lucky it did not last too long.

I’m hearing no injuries. Just broken stuff. Good news! Had that hit on a Fri/Sat evening at 7:15, there would have been a lot of people out there fishing. Me included….

-J.

Didn’t last too long? It blew for almost a half hour straight of sustained winds. I guess 50mph for about a half hour. The lake came up a good three feet plus waves running even higher in Wahkon bay.
The cool part was that the wind blew for about 10 minutes before the rain started. It started as a light rain so I stood on the deck watching the skies five more minutes until the heavy rain started.
It was pretty intense and relentless for a while. The whole park was a mess.

Here are a couple pictures from a marina in Mille Lacs Island Resort yesterday morning. I haven’t checked for an update today but as of last night, one boat was still missing and the Sheriff’s office was looking for it.

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Kyhl
I’m sure jon is meaning at least it didnt blow for a hour or 2 hours. 30 minutes is still a long time but at least it didnt go longer.
For those who leave boats tied to the docks when a storm is coming is kind of your own fault, you know what can happen why risk it. Convenience is a big thing I’d suppose. But I bet it’s not convenient to find a destroyed boat or be looking for your boat still. Trailering I’m sure can be a pain but I bet it’s better then dealing with insurance. We all know what happens on mille lacs. The lake creates it’s own weather

We don’t typically get storms that blow like that. At least I’ve been lucky enough to not remember seeing such a storm very often. I was also on Vermilion the day of the big boundary waters blow down and that was a similar experience. The differences being the boundary waters blow was higher winds and you had more warning that it was coming. If you were in an area with a view of the horizon could see it coming. If you were behind trees it snuck up on you.

For the blowdown. I was on an eastern section of water and had plenty of time to see it coming. In contrast, my dad wan tucked behind an island and didn’t see it coming until he heard distant thunder and poked around the island for a look. It was as downpour by the time he got to the dock.

I did not see the ML storm coming with as much wind as it brought. But I did have enough forewarning to get my boat on the trailer. So I lucked out. No one in that resort had seen anything like that before. One person commented that something like this has not happened in 20+ years of her being there.

I’m starting to think I’m the commonality between storms like this.